A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A BLOGGER (WHO IS A MOM AND WORKS FULL TIME)

After my last post about how to make your life easier as a working parent, a few of you asked about what my “normal” day looks like. I’m not sure that any two days of my life have been identical, but this is generally what goes down in our household on a daily basis.

6:45 Wake up. Let the dog out, feed him. Read or listen to scriptures or other uplifting podcasts while I start putting on make up and doing my hair, brushing my teeth. Sometimes doing my hair means throwing it up in a messy bun on the top of my head. And I’m not talking about the cute Pinterest messy buns. I mean like the real ones that take one second.

7:00 Usually when baby M wakes up. Change his diaper and give him breakfast. Change his clothes. Snuggle for a minute.

7:15 Leave the house, drop M off at pre-school. Listen to a podcast or audio book on my commute (usually personal finance or self-help stuff like Brian Tracy).

7:30 Arrive at work. Eat breakfast (which I keep stored in my office).

12:00 Go to the gym, conveniently located just outside my office building. I am doing Phased right now which makes it SO nice having workouts already planned for me. If I don’t work out then I work on the blog or other businesses.

1:00 Back to work. Sometimes I’ll take little breaks throughout the day to post something on social media (usually an Instagram story). Eat lunch.

4:00 About 5 minutes before I leave work, I start making a list of where I’m leaving off and what needs to be done the next day, that way I don’t waste time when I arrive at work the following day. Then I pick up M from pre-school, either play with him at home or go to a park, library, pool– whatever M wants to do (within reason). If he doesn’t want my full attention while he’s playing then often I will work on the blog while he’s playing. But I try to make this quality time where we are focused on doing something together.

5:30 Start warming up dinner (almost always a pre-made frozen meal). Sometimes Danny is home for dinner, and sometimes we sit with him while he eats when he gets home later. Family dinners are important to us so we do our best to all eat together or to be around to chat with the person who missed dinner.

6:00 Clean up dinner and set a timer for 15-20 minutes for cleaning up around the house and setting out everything for the next morning. I’ve found for me this is the best time of day to get ready for the next day since I still have energy and am already cleaning. I’ll gather up my lunch and workout bag and anything else I need for the next day (or that M will need) and set it by the door. This is a huge time saver for me in the morning when I feel brain dead and am already rushed.

6:15 Play with M, read books. Go run errands if any need to be run. Occasionally attend social events around this time.

7:30 Give M a bath.

8:00 Try to put M to bed. Sometimes he takes long naps at school and isn’t tired until closer to 9. Danny and I take turns each night putting M to bed, so if its Danny’s night to put him to bed then I will just start working on the blog and side hustles while he’s doing that.

8:30/9 Work on the blog– includes writing new blog posts, creating Pinterest pins or otherwise pinning on Pinterest, posting on Instagram and or Twitter, writing newsletters, researching. I also have a few side hustles that I’ll work on at this time where I draft, negotiate, or edit contracts for people. We are also opening another business soon so I work on that as well.

11/12 Read scriptures or other positive easy to read things, brush and floss! (Danny’s a dentist after all), and go to sleep.

Of course this is just an ideal schedule. Many days I’m running late in the mornings. Or sometimes I have a big project at work that I have to go back to work in the evenings after Danny gets home. Or some nights I’m just flat out brain dead and don’t feel like working, or Danny and I will hire a babysitter and sneak away for a date. 99% of the time I feel behind in at least one of the roles that I play, but I just do my best to catch up when  I can and prioritize what is most important to me (which is number one, my family and then number two, getting out of debt). Somehow things seem to work out if I do my best and don’t worry too much.